Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To confer with another or others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.
  • intransitive verb To arrange or settle by discussion and mutual agreement.
  • intransitive verb To transfer (an instrument, such as a promissory note) to another party by means of endorsement.
  • intransitive verb To succeed in going over or through.
  • intransitive verb To succeed in accomplishing or managing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To carry on business or trade.
  • To treat with another or others, as in the arrangement of a treaty, or in preliminaries to the transaction of any business; carry on negotiations.
  • To arrange for or procure by negotiation; bring about by mutual arrangement, a discussion, or bargaining; as, to negotiate a loan or a treaty.
  • To direct; manage; transact.
  • To handle; manage.
  • To put, into circulation by transference and assignment of claim by indorsement: as, to negotiate a bill of exchange.
  • To dispose of by sale or transfer: as, to negotiate securities.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To transact business; to carry on trade.
  • intransitive verb To treat with another respecting purchase and sale or some business affair; to bargain or trade.
  • intransitive verb To hold intercourse respecting a treaty, league, convention, or other proposed agreement; to treat with, respecting peace or commerce; to conduct communications or conferences.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To intrigue; to scheme.
  • transitive verb To carry on negotiations concerning; to procure or arrange for by negotiation.
  • transitive verb To transfer for a valuable consideration under rules of commercial law; to sell; to pass.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.
  • verb transitive To arrange or settle something by mutual agreement.
  • verb transitive To succeed in coping with, or getting over something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb succeed in passing through, around, or over
  • verb discuss the terms of an arrangement

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin negōtiārī, negōtiāt-, to transact business, from negōtium, business : neg-, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ōtium, leisure.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin negotiatus, past participle of negotiari ("to carry on business"), from negotium ("business") (Eng. usg. 1599), from nec ("not") + otium ("leisure, ease, inactivity").

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Examples

Comments

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  • Ne-go-she-ate. Not ne-go-see-ate.

    July 25, 2011

  • Kewp's reference is probably to a (grindingly) frequent pronunciation by Australia's current Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

    July 25, 2011

  • It was a relief, the hunger, its refusal to negotiate, something solid to hold onto in the uncertainty. From "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan.

    March 28, 2012

  • I watched him negotiate the bend as carefully as an armature would.

    August 21, 2013